No More Learning

I.


THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES



FROM THE LIBRARY OF
ERNEST CARROLL MOORE



THE LIFE



OF



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON,

LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND,



AND



CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.



Ne quidfalsi dicere audeat, ne quid veri non audeat. CICKRO.



THE LIFE



OF

EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON,

LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR OF ENGLAND,

AND

CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD :

IN WHICH IS INCLUDED

A CONTINUATION

OF HIS

HISTORY OF THE GRAND REBELLION.



WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.



A NEW EDITION,

EXHIBITING A FAITHFUL COLLATION OF THE ORIGINAL MS. ,
WITH ALL THE SUPPRESSED PASSAGES.



VOL. II.



OXFORD,
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.

MDCCCXXVII.



CoBegt
Library



THE

CONTINUATION

OF



THE LIFE



OF



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON.



ALL this was done between the dissolution of the 1661.
parliament in December, and the assembling the The new
other in May following. And a upon the first day of J^ ent
its coming together, which was upon the eighth of Ma y 8 -
May, the very day b that his majesty had been pro-
claimed the year before, he told d them " that he had The kin s' s

speech.

" deferred it a week, that they might meet upon
" that day, for the memory of the former day. "
The king, after some gracious expressions of his
confidence in them, told them " that they would
" find what method he thought best for their pro-
" ceeding, by two bills which he had caused to be
" provided for them, which were for confirmation of
" all that had been enacted in the last meeting;"
and repeated what he had said to them when he

a following. And] following, twelvemonth
and c before,] before them.

b the very day] the very day ll he told] And he told

VOL. II. B



2 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. was last there: " that next to the miraculous bless-
Hc prefse$ ing of God Almighty, and indeed as an immediate
them to effect of that blessing, he did impute the good dis-

< . min m the

act of in- position and security they were all in, to the happy
" act of indemnity and oblivion : that," his majesty
said, " was the principal corner-stone that supported
" that excellent building, that created kindness in
" them to each other ; and confidence was their joint
" and common security. " He told them, " he was
" still of the same opinion, and more, if it were pos-
" sible, of that opinion than he had been, by the ex-
" perience he had of the benefit of it, and from the
" unreasonableness of what some men said against
" it. " He desired them " to provide full remedies
" for future mischiefs ; to be as severe as they would
" against new offenders, especially if they were so
" upon old principles ; and that they would pull up
" those principles by the roots. But," his majesty
said, " he should never think him a wise man, that
" would endeavour to undermine and shake that
" foundation of the public peace, by infringing that
" act in the least degree ; or that he could be his
" friend, or wish him well, who would persuade him
" ever to consent to the breach of a promise he had
" so solemnly made when he was abroad, and had
" performed with that solemnity after, and because
" he had promised it : and that he could not sus-
" pect any attempts of that kind by any men of
" merit and virtue. "

And this warmth of his majesty upon this sub-
ject was not then more than needed : for the armies
being now disbanded, there were great combinations
entered into, not to confirm the act of oblivion ;
which they knew without confirmation would sig-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 3

nify nothing. Men were well enough contented, 1661.
that the king should grant indemnity to all men""
that had rebelled against him ; that he should grant
their lives and fortunes to them, who had forfeited
them to him : hut they thought it very unreason-
able and unjust, that the king should release those
debts which were immediately due to them, and
forgive those trespasses which had been committed
to their particular damage. They could not endure
to meet the same men in the king's highway, now
it was the king's highway again, who had hereto-
fore affronted them in those ways, because they
were not the king's, and only because they knew
they could obtain no justice against them. They
could not with any patience see those men, who not
only during the war had oppressed them, plundered
their houses, and had their own adorned with the
furniture they had robbed them of, ride upon the
same horses which they had then taken from them
upon no other pretence, but because they were bet-
ter than their own; but after the war was ended,
had committed many insolent trespasses upon them
wantonly, and to shew their power of justice of
peace, or committee men, and had from the lowest
beggary raised great estates, out of which they were e
well able to satisfy, at least in some degree, the da-
mages the other had sustained. And those and other
passions of this kind, which must have invalidated
the whole act of indemnity, could not have been ex-
tinguished without the king's influence, and indeed
his immediate interposition and industry.

When his majesty had spoken all he thought fit He . ac *

c were] Not in MS.
B 2



4 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. upon that subject, he told them, "he could not
them w ;th " conclude without telling them some news, news
his intended that he thought would be very acceptable to them ;
" and therefore he should think himself unkind and
" ill-natured, if he should not impart it to them.
" That he had been often put in mind by his friends,
" that it was high time to marry ; and he had
" thought so himself, ever since he came into Eng-
" land : but there appeared difficulties enough in
" the choice, though many overtures had been made
"to him. And if he should never marry till he
" could make such a choice, against which there
" could be no foresight of any inconvenience that
" might ensue, they would live to see him an old
" bachelor, which he thought they did not desire to
" do. " He said, " he could now tell them, not only
" that he was resolved to marry, but whom he re-
" solved to marry, if it pleased God. That towards
" his resolution, he had used that deliberation, and
" taken that advice, that he ought to do in a case
" of that importance, and with a full consideration
" of the good of his subjects in general, as of him-
" self. It was with the daughter of Portugal. That
" when he had, as well as he could, weighed all that
" occurred to himself, the first resolution he took,
" was to state the whole overtures which had been
" made to him, and in truth all that had been said
" against it, to his privy council ; without hearing
" whose advice, he never did nor ever would resolve
" any thing of public importance. And," he said,
" he told them with great satisfaction and comfort
" to himself, that after many hours debate in full
" council f , (for he thought there was not above one
f in full council] in a full council



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 5

" absent,) and he believed upon weighing all that 1661.
" could be said upon that subject, for or against it ;
" the lords, without one dissenting voice, advised
" him with all imaginable cheerfulness to this mar-
" riage : which he looked upon as very wonderful,
" and even as some instance of the approbation of
" God himself. That he had thereupon taken his own
" resolution, and concluded with the ambassador of
" Portugal, who was departing with the whole treaty
" signed, which they would find to contain many
" great advantages to the kingdom ; and that he
" would make all the haste he could, to fetch them
" a queen hither, who he doubted not would bring
" great blessings with her, to him and them. "

The next day the two houses of parliament, after The two

, . . houses ex-

they had expressed all the joy imaginable amongst press their
them, sent to the king, "that he would appoint alionont.
" time when he would admit them to his presence :"
which when he had done, both houses of parliament,
in a body, presented by the speaker of the house of
peers their humble thanks to his majesty, " for that
" he had vouchsafed to acquaint them with his reso-
" lution to marry, which had exceedingly rejoiced
" their hearts, and would, they doubted not, draw
" down God's blessing upon his majesty and the
" kingdom. " Shortly after, the fleet was made ready,
and the earl of Sandwich, admiral thereof, was like-
wise made ambassador to Portugal, and appointed
to receive the queen, and to conduct her into Eng-
land.

This was the whole proceeding, from the begin-
ning to the end of that treaty about the marriage
of the king ; by the whole circumstances whereof it
is apparent enough, that no particular corruption in

B 3



6 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

166). any single person could have brought it to pass in
~~ that manner, and that the chancellor never proposed
it, nor heard of it but from the king himself, nor
advanced it afterwards more than every one of the
other lords did ; and if he had done less, he could
neither have been thought a prudent or an honest
man : * to which no more shall be added, than that
neither before or in the treaty, or after the mar-
riage, he ever received the least reward or the least
present from Portugal. &
New bi- During the interval of parliament, the king had

shops ap- ,

pointed, made choice of many very eminent and learned men,
who were consecrated to some of the sees of bishops
which were void ; that the preservation of the suc-
cession might not depend upon the lives of the few
bishops who remained, and who were all very aged :
which could not have been done sooner, nor till the
other parliament, to whom the settlement of the
church had been referred, was dissolved. Nor could
he yet give any remedy to the licence in the prac-
tice of religion, which in all places was full of scan-
dal and disorder, because the liturgy was not yet
finished ; till when, the indulgence by his declara-
tion was not to be restrained. But at the same
time that he issued out his writs for convening the

A convoca- parliament, he had likewise h sent summons to the

tion sum- n-i ni

moued. bishops, for the meeting of the clergy in convoca-
tion, which is the legal synod in England ; against
the coming together whereof the liturgy would be
finished, which his majesty intended to send thither

* to which Portugal. ] Thus riage, he never received the least

in MS. : to which no more shall reward, or the least present from

be added, that neither before, or Portugal.
in the treaty, or after the mar- h likewise] like



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 7

to be examined, debated, and confirmed. And then 1661.
he hoped to provide, with the assistance of the par-~~
liament, such a settlement in religion, as would pre-
vent any disorder in the state upon those pretences.
And it was very necessary to lose no time in the
prosecution of that cure ; for the malignity against
the church appeared to increase, and to be greater
than it was upon the coming in of the king.

The old bishops who remained alive, and such
deans and chapters as were numerous enough for
the corporation, who had been long kept fasting,
had now appetites proportionable. Most of them
were very poor, and had undergone great extremi-
ties; some of the bishops having supported them-
selves and their families 1 by teaching schools, and
submitting to the like low condescensions. And
others saw, that if they died before they were en-
abled to make some provision for them, their wives
and children must unavoidably starve : and there-
fore they made haste to enter upon their own. And
now an ordinance of parliament had not strength
enough to batter an act of parliament. They called
their old tenants to account for rent, and to renew
their estates if they had a mind to it ; for most old
leases were expired in the long continuance of the
war, and the old tenants had been compelled either
to purchase a new right and title from the state,
(when the ordinance was passed for taking away all
bishops, deans, and chapters, and for selling all the
lands which belonged to them,) or to sell their pre-
sent estates to those, who had purchased the rever-
sion and the inheritance thereof: so that lx)th the

1 families] family
B 4



8 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. one and the other, the old tenants and the new pur-
~~ chasers, repaired to the true owners as soon as the
king was restored ; the former expecting to be re-
stored again to the possession of what they had sold,
under an unreasonable pretence of a tenant right,
(as they called it,) because there remained yet (as in
many cases there did) a year or some other term of
their old leases unexpired, and because they had out
of conscience forborne to buy the inheritance of the
church, which was first offered to them. And for
the refusal thereof, and such a reasonable fine as
was usual, they hoped to have a new lease, and to
be readmitted to be tenants to the church. The
other, the purchasers, (amongst which there were
some very infamous persons,) appeared as confident,
and did not think, that according to the clemency
that was practised towards all sorts of men, it could
be thought justice, that they should lose the entire
sum they had disbursed upon the faith of that go-
vernment, which the whole kingdom submitted to ;
but that they should, instead of the inheritance they
had an ill title to, have a good lease for lives or
years granted to them by them who had now the
right ; at least, that upon the old rent and moderate
fines they should be continued tenants to the church,
without any regard to those who had sold both their
possession, and with that all the right or title that
they might pretend to, for a valuable consideration.
And they had the more hope of this, because the
king had granted a commission, under the great
seal of England, to some lords of the council and to
other eminent persons, to interpose and mediate with
the bishops and clergy in such cases, as ought not
to be prosecuted with rigour.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 9

But the bishops and clergy concerned had not the 1661.
good fortune to please their old or their new tenants. A c i aniour
They had been very barbarously used themselves ; ? J 8t the



and that had too much quenched all tenderness to- bish P s and

. . cJergy by

wards others. They did not enough distinguish be- their te-
tween persons: nor did the suffering any man had" 8
undergone for fidelity to the king, or his affection
to the church eminently expressed, often prevail for
the mitigation of his fine ; or if it did sometimes,
three or four stories of the contrary, and in which
there had been some unreasonable hardness used,
made a greater noise and spread further, than their
examples of charity and moderation. And as honest
men did not k usually fare the better for any merit,
so the purchasers who offered most money, did not
fare the worse for all the villainies they had com-
mitted. And two or three unhappy instances of this
kind brought scandal upon the whole church, as if
they had been all guilty of the same excesses, which
they were far from. And by this means the new
bishops, who did not all follow the precedents made
by the old, underwent the same reproaches : and
many of them who had most adhered to their order,
and for so doing had undergone for twenty years
together sundry persecutions and oppressions, were
not in their present passion so much pleased with
the renewing it, as they expected to have been. Yet
upon a very strict examination of the true grounds
of all those misprisions, (except some few instances
which cannot be defended,) there will be found more
passion than justice in them ; and that there was
even a necessity to raise as much money as could be

* not] Not in MS.



10 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. justly done, for the repairing the cathedrals, which
"were all miserably ruinated or defaced, and for the
entirely building up many houses of the prebends,
which had been pulled down or let fall to the
ground. And those ways much more of those mo-
nies which were raised by fines were issued and ex-
pended, than what went into the private purses of
them, who had a right to them, and had need
enough of them. But the time began to be fro-
ward again, and all degrees of men were hard to
be pleased ; especially when they saw one classis of
men restored to more than they had ever lost, and
preferred to a plenty they had never been acquaint-
ed with, whilst themselves remained remediless after
so many sufferings, and without any other testimony
of their courage and fidelity, than in the ruin of
their fortunes, and the sale of their inheritance.
The king's Another great work was performed, between the

coronation, .

April 23. dissolution of the last and the beginning of the next
parliament, which was the ceremony of the king's
coronation ; and was done with the greatest solem-
nity and glory, that ever any had been seen in that
kingdom. That the novelties and new inventions,
with which the kingdom had been so much intoxi-
cated for so many years together, might be discoun-
tenanced and discredited in the eyes of the people,
for the folly and want of state thereof; his majesty
had directed the records and old formularies should
be examined, and thereupon all things should be
prepared, and all forms accustomed be used 1 , that
might add lustre and splendour to the solemnity. A
court of claims was erected, where before the lords

1 accustomed be used] accustomed to be used



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 11

commissioners for that service, all persons made 1661.
claim to those privileges and precedency, which"
they conceived to be due to their persons, or the of-
fices of which they were possessed, in the ceremony
of the coronation ; which were allowed or rejected
as their right appeared.

The king went early in the morning to the Tower
of London in his coach, most of the lords being there
before. And about ten of the clock they set for-
ward towards Whitehall, ranged in that order as
the heralds had appointed ; those of the long robe,
the king's council at law, the masters of the chan-
cery, and judges, going first, and so the lords in
their order, very splendidly habited, on rich foot-
cloths ; the number of their footmen being limited,
to the dukes ten, to the earls eight, and to the vis-
counts six, and the barons four, all richly clad, as
their other servants were. The whole show was
the most glorious in the order and expense, that had
been ever seen in England ; they who rode first be-
ing in Fleet-street when the king issued out of the
Tower, as was known by the discharge of the ord-
nance : and it was near three of the clock in the
afternoon, when the king alighted at Whitehall.
The next morning the king rode in the same state
in his robes and with his crown on his head, and all
the lords in their robes, to Westminster-hall ; where
all the ensigns for the coronation were delivered to
those who were appointed to carry them, the earl
of Northumberland being made high constable, and
the earl of Suffolk earl marshal, for the day. And
then all the lords in their order, and the king him-
self, walked on foot upon blue cloth from Westmin-



12 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. ster-hall to the abbey church, where, after a sermon

: preached by Dr. Morley, (then bishop of Worcester,)

in Henry the Seventh's chapel, the king was sworn,
crowned, and anointed, by Dr. Juxon, archbishop of
Canterbury, with all the solemnity that in those
cases had been used. All which being done, the
king returned in the same manner on foot to West-
minster-hall, which was adorned with rich hangings
and statues ; and there the king dined, and the lords
on either side at tables provided for them : and all
other ceremonies were performed with great order
and magnificence.
TWO un- I should not have enlarged thus much upon the

lucky acci- .

dents which ceremony of the coronation, it may be not men-
tioned it, (a perfect narration having been then made
and published of it, with all the grandeur and mag-
nificence of the city of London,) but that there were
two accidents in it, the one absolutely new, the
other that produced some inconveniences which
were not then discerned. The first was, that it be-
ing the custom in those great ceremonies or tri-
umphs of state, that the master of the king's horse
(who is always a great man, and was now the duke
of Albemarle, the general) rides next after the king
with a led horse in his hand : in this occasion the
duke of York privately prevailed with the king,
who had not enough reverence for old customs,
without any consultation, that his master of his
horse, (so he was called,) Mr. Jermyn, a younger
brother of a very private gentleman's family, should
ride as near his person, as the general did to his
majesty, and lead a horse likewise in his hand; a
thing never heard of before. Neither in truth hath



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 13

the younger brother of the king such an officer as 1661,
master of his horse, which is m a term restrained
within the family of the king, queen, and prince of
Wales ; and the two masters of the horse to the
queen and prince are subordinate to the king's mas-
ter of his horse, who hath the jurisdiction over the
other. The lords were exceedingly surprised and
troubled at this, of which they heard nothing till
they saw it ; and they liked it the worse, because
they discerned that it issued from a fountain, from
whence many bitter waters were like to flow, the
customs of the court of France, whereof the king
and the duke had too much the image in their
heads, and than which there could not be a copy
more universally ingrateful and odious to the Eng-
lish nation.

The other was : In the morning of the corona-
tion, whilst they sat at the table in Westminster-
hall, to see the many ensigns of the coronation de-
livered to those lords who were appointed to carry
them, the earl of Northumberland, who was that ,
day high constable, came to the king and told him,
" that amongst the young noblemen who were ap-
" pointed to carry the several parts of the king's
" mantle, the lord Ossory, who was the eldest son
" to the duke of Ormond, challenged the place be-
" fore the lord Percy, who was his eldest son ;
" whereas," he said, " the duke of Ormond had no
" place in the ceremony of that day, as duke, but
" only as earl of Brecknock, and so the eldest sons
" of all ancienter earls ought to take place of his
" eldest son ;" which was so known a rule, and of so

m is] Omitted in MS.



14 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. general a concernment, that the king could not
choose but declare it, and send a message to the
lord Ossory by the lord chamberlain, " that he
" should desist from his pretence. " This, and the
public manner of asking and determining it, pro-
duced two ill effects. The first, a jealousy and ill
understanding between the two great families : the
one naturally undervaluing and contemning his
equals, without paying much regard to his supe-
riors ; and the other not being used to be contemned
by any, and well knowing that all the advantages
the earl had in England, either in antiquity or for-
tune, he had the same in Ireland, and that he had
merited and received an increase of title, when the
other had deserved to lose that which he was born
to. The other, was a jealousy and prejudice that it
raised in the nobility of England, as if the duke of
Ormond (who in truth knew nothing of it) had en-
tered upon that contest, in hope that by his interest
in the king, he should be 'able to put this eternal
affront upon the peers of England, to bring them
upon the same level with those of Ireland, who
had no such esteem. And it did not a little add to
their envy, that he had behaved himself so wor-
thily throughout the ill times, that he was the ob-
ject of an universal reverence at home and abroad ;
which was a reproach to most of them, whose ac-
tions would not bear the light. But as the duke
was not in the least degree privy to the particular
contest, nor raised the value of himself from any
merit in his services, nor undervalued others upon
the advantage of their having done amiss ; so he
was abundantly satisfied in the testimony of his own
conscience, and in his unquestionable innocence,



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 15

and from thence too much despised the prejudice 1661.
and the envy the others had towards him, the marks n ~
whereof he was compelled afterwards to bear, which
he did with the same magnanimity.

Before we proceed further in the relation of what
was afterwards done, it will not be unseasonable in
this place to give an account of somewhat that was
not done, and which was generally expected to have
been done, and as generally censured because it was
not ; the reason whereof is known to very few. The A solemn
king had resolved before his coming into England, of th
that as soon as he should be settled in any cond
tion of security, and no just apprehension of future
troubles, he would take up and remove the body of
his father, the last king, from Windsor, and inter it
with all solemnity at Westminster; and that the
court should continue in mourning till the corona-
tion. And many good people thought this so neces-
sary, that they were much troubled that it was not
done, and liked not the reasons which were given,
which made it appear that it had been considered.
The reasons which were given in public discourses
from hand to hand, were two. The first ; that now
ten years were past since that woful tragedy, and
the joy and the triumph for the king's return had
composed the minds of the people, it would not be
prudent to renew the memory of that parricide, by
the spectacle of a solemn funeral ; lest it might
cause such commotions of the vulgar in all places,
as might produce great disorders and insurrections
amongst those who had formerly served the king-
dom, as if it were a good season and a new provo-

11 the marks] and ihe marks



16 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. cation to take revenge upon their neighbours, who
~~ had formerly tyrannized over them ; which might
likewise have caused the soldiers, who were newly
disbanded, to draw themselves together for their
own security : and so the peace would be at least
disturbed. The other was ; that to perform this in-
terment in any private manner, would be liable to
very just censure, when all things relating to the
king himself had showed so magnificently ; and if it
were done with the usual pomp of a solemn inter-
ment of a king, the expense would be so vast, that
there would be neither money found nor credit for
the charge thereof.
But upon These were the reasons alleged and spread abroad ;

search the . . ,. , .

body could nor was either of them m itself without weight to
found? thinking men. But the true reason was : at the
time of that horrid murder, Windsor was a garrison
under the command of a citizen, who was an ana-
baptist, with all his officers and soldiers. The men
had broken down all the wainscot, rails, and parti-
tions, which divided the church, defaced all the mo-
numents and other marks, and reduced the whole
into the form of a stable or barn, and scarce fit for
any other use; when Cromwell had declared that
the royal body should be privately interred in the
church of the castle at Windsor, and the marquis
of Hertford, the duke of Richmond, the earls of
Southampton and Lindsey, had obtained leave to be
present (only to be present, for they had no power
to prepare or do any thing in it) at their master's
burial. Those great men were not suffered to have
above three servants each, to enter into the castle

nor] or



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 17

with them; and it may easily be concluded, that 1661.
their own noble hearts were too full of sorrow, to
send their eyes abroad to take notice of the places
by which they passed. They found the church so
wild a place, that P they knew not where they were ;
and as soon as ^ the royal body was put into the
ground, they were conducted out of the castle to
their lodging in the town, and the next morning re-
turned to their several houses. Shortly after the
king returned from beyond the seas, he settled the
dean and chapter of Windsor, with direction to put
his royal chapel there into the order it used to be,
and to repair the ruins thereof, which was a long
and a difficult work. His majesty commanded the
dean carefully to inform himself of the place, in
which the king's body had been interred, and to
give him notice of it. Upon inquiry he could not
find one person in the castle or in the town who
had been present at the burial. When the parlia-
ment first seized upon the castle and put a garrison
into it, shortly after, they not only ejected r all the
prebends and singingmen of the royal chapel, but
turned out 8 all the officers and servants who had any
relation to the king or to the church, except only
those who were notorious for their infidelity towards
the king or the church : and of those, or of the offi-
cers or soldiers of the garrison, there could not now
one man be found, who was in the church when the
king was buried. The duke of Richmond and the
marquis of Hertford were both dead : and the king
sent (after he had received that account from the

P that] Not in MS. had not only ejected

i soon asj Not in MS. a but turned out] but had

r they not only ejected] they turned out

VOL. II. C



18 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. dean) the two surviving lords, the earl of South-
""ampton and of Lindsey, to Windsor; who taking
with them as many of those three servants who had
been admitted to attend them, as were now living,
they could not recollect their memories, nor find
any one mark by which they could make any judg-
ment, near what place the king's body lay. They
made some guess, by the information of the work-
men who had been now employed in the new pave-
ment of the church, and upon their observation of
any place where the earth * had seemed to lie lighter,
that it might be in or near that place : but when
they had caused it to be digged, and searched in u
and about it, they found nothing. And upon their
return, the king gave over * all further thought of in-
quiry : and those other reasons were cast abroad
upon any occasional inquiry or discourse of that
subject.
The affairs That which gave the king most trouble, and de-

of Ireland

resumed, prived him of that ease and quiet which he had
promised to himself during the vacation between
the two parliaments, was the business of Ireland ;
which we shall now take up again, and continue the
relation without interruption, as long as we shall
think fit to make any mention of that affair. We
left it in the hands of the lord Roberts, whom the
king had declared deputy of Ireland, presuming that
he would upon conference with the several parties,
who were all appointed to attend him, so shape and
model the whole bulk, that it might be more ca-
pable of some further debate before his majesty

1 upon their observation of earth
any place where the earth] u in] Omitted in MS.
upon their observation that the * over] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 19

in council: but that hand did not hold it many J6C1.
days.

That noble lord, though of a good understanding, character
was of so morose a nature, that it was no easy mat- bertYth?
ter to treat with him. He had some pedantic parts of deputy>
learning, which made his other parts of judgment the
worse, for he had some parts of good knowledge in
the law, and in antiquity, in the precedents of for-
mer times ; all which were rendered the less useful,
by the other pedantry contracted out of some books,
and out of the ill conversation he had y with some
clergymen and people in quality much below him,
by whose weak faculties he raised the value of his
own, which were very capable of being improved in
better company. He was naturally proud and im-
perious ; which humour was increased by an ill
education; for excepting some years spent in the
inns of court amongst the books of the law, he
might be very justly said to have been born and
bred in Cornwall. There were many days passed
after the king's declaration of him to be deputy, be-
fore he could be persuaded to visit the general, who
he knew was to continue lieutenant ; and when he
did visit him, it was with so ill a grace, that the
other received no satisfaction in it, and the less, be-
cause he plainly discerned that it proceeded from
pride, which he bore the more uneasily, because as
he was now the greater man, so he knew himself to
be of a much better family. He made so many
doubts and criticisms upon the draught of his pa-
tent, that the attorney general was weary of attend-
ing him ; and when all things were agreed on at

y had] had had
c 2



20 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. night, the next morning produced new dilemmas.
But that which was worse than all this, he received
those of the Irish nation of the best quality, and who
were of the privy council and chief command in that
kingdom, so superciliously ; received their informa-
tion so negligently, and gave his answers so scorn-
fully ; that after they had waited upon him four or
five days, they besought the king that they might
not be obliged to attend him any more. And it was
evident, that his carriage towards them was not to
be submitted to by persons of his own quality, or of
any liberal education : nor did he make any advance
towards the business.

This gave the king very great trouble, and them
as much pleasure who had never liked the designa-
tion. He knew not what to do with his deputy, nor
what to do for Ireland. The lord Roberts was not
a man that was to be disgraced and thrown off,
without much inconvenience and hazard. He had
parts which in council and parliament (which were
the two scenes where all the king's business lay)
were very troublesome ; for of all men alive who had
so few friends, he had the most followers. They
who conversed most with him, knew him to have
many humours which were very intolerable; they
who were but a little acquainted with him, took him
to be a man of much knowledge, and called his mo-
rosity gravity, and thought the severity of his man-
ners made him less grateful to the courtiers. He
had no such advantageous faculties in his delivery,
as could impose upon his auditors ; but he was never
tedious, and his words made impression. In a word,
he was such a man as the king thought worthy to
be compounded with. And therefore his majesty



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 21

appointed the lord chancellor and the lord treasurer 1C6I.
to confer with him, and to dispose him to accept the The kin
office of privy seal, which gave him a great pre-



cedence that would gratify that passion which was offer of the

. . n . . _ _ . . privy seal.

strongest in him ; tor in his nature he preferred
place before money, which his fortune stood more in
need of. And the king thought, it would be no ill
argument to incline him to give over the thought of
Ireland, that it was impossible for the king to sup-
ply him for the present with near any such sum of
money as he had very reasonably demanded, for the
satisfaction of the army there, (which was upon the
matter to be new modelled, and some part of it dis-
banded,) with the reduction of many officers, and for
his own equipage.

They began their approach to him, by asking
him " when he would be ready for his journey to
" Ireland;" to which he answered with some quick-
ness, " that he was confident there was no purpose
" to send him thither, for that he saw there was no
" preparation of those things, without which the king
" knew well that it was not possible for him to go ;
" nor had his majesty lately spoken to him of it.
" Besides, he had observed, that the chancellor had
" for many days past called him at the council, and
" in all other places where they met, by the name of
" lord Roberts ; whereas, for some months before, he
" had upon all occasions and in all places treated
" him with the style of lord deputy : which gave him
" first cause to believe, that there was some altera-
" tion in the purpose of sending him thither. " They
both assured him, " that the king had no other per-
" son in his view but himself for that service, if he
" were disposed to undertake it vigorously ; but that

c 3



1661. " tne king had forborne lately to speak with him of

" it, because he found it impossible for him to pro-

" vide the money he proposed ; and it could not be
" denied, that he had proposed it very reasonably in
" all respects. However, it being impossible to pro-
" cure it, and that he could not go without it, for
" which he could not be blamed, his majesty must
" find some other expedient to send his authority
" thither, the government there being yet so loose,
" that he could not but every day expect to receive
" news of some great disorder there, the ill conse-
" quence whereof would be imputed to his majesty's
" want of care and providence. That his majesty
" had yet forborne to think of that expedient, till he
" might do it with his consent and advice, and until
" he could resolve upon another post, where he might
" serve his majesty with equal honour, and by which
" the world might see the esteem he had of him.
" And therefore since it would be both unreasonable
" and unjust, to press him to go for Ireland without
" those supplies, and it was equally impossible to pre-
" pare and send those supplies ;" they said, " the
" king had commanded them to propose to him, that
" he would make him lord privy seal, an office he
" well understood. And if he accepted that and
" were possessed of it, (as he should immediately be,)
" his majesty would enter upon new considerations
" how to settle the tottering condition of Ireland. "
The lord's dark countenance presently cleared lip,
having no doubt expected to be deprived of his title
to Ireland, without being assigned any other any
where else : and now being offered the third place
of precedence in the nobility, the privy seal going
next to the treasurer, upon a very short recollection,



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 23
he declared "that he received it as a great honour, 1661.



" that the king would make use of his service z in any Lord RO-
" place, and that he submitted wholly to his good
" pleasure, and would serve him with great fidelity. "
The next day the king gave him the privy seal at the p |ace of

deputy.
the council-board, where he was sworn and took his
place ; and to shew his extraordinary talent, found a
way more to obstruct and puzzle business, at least
the despatch of it, than any man in that office had
ever done before : insomuch as the king found him-
self compelled, in a short time after, to give order
that most grants and patents, which required haste,
should pass by immediate warrant to the great seal,
without visiting the privy seal ; which preterition
was not usual, and brought some inconvenience and
prejudice to the chancellor.

Though the king had within himself a prospect of
the expedient, that would be fittest for him to make
use of for the present, towards the settlement of Ire-
land ; yet it was absolutely necessary for him, even
before he could make use of that expedient, to put
the several claims and petitions of right which were
depending before him, and which were attended with
such an unruly number of suitors, into some such
method of examining and determining, that they
might not be left in the confusion they were then in. The kin R
And this could not be done, without his imposing parties,
upon himself the trouble of hearing once at large, all
that every party of the pretenders could allege for
the support of their several pretences : and this he
did with incredible patience for very many days to-
gether. We shall first mention those interests, which

z use] Not in MS.
c 4



24 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1661. gave the king least trouble, because they admitted



least debate.
The king's ft was looked upon as very scandalous, that the

fneud re-

tored by marquis of Ormond should remain so long without
i lament, the possession of any part of his estate ; which had
been taken from him upon no other pretence, but his
adhering to the king. And therefore there was an
act of parliament passed with the consent of all par-
ties, that he should be presently restored to all his
estate ; which was done with the more ease, because
the greatest part of it (for his wife's land had been
before assigned to her in Cromwell's time, or rather
in his son Harry's) lay within that province, which
Cromwell out of his husbandry had reserved for him-
self, exempt from all title or pretence of adventurer
or soldier : what other part of his estate either the
one or the other were possessed of, in their own
judgments it a was so impossible for them to enjoy,
that they very willingly yielded it up to the marquis,
in hope of having recompense made to them out of
other lands. There could as little be said against
the restoration of the earl of Inchiquin to his estate,
which had been taken from him and distributed
amongst the adventurers and soldiers, for no other
cause but his serving the king. There were likewise
some others of the same classis, who had nothing ob-
jected to them but their loyalty, who were put into
the possession of their own estates. And all this
gave no occasion of murmur ; every man of what in-
terest soever believing, or pretending to believe, that
the king was obliged in honour, justice, and con-
science, to cause that right to be done to those who
had b served him faithfully.

a it] Omitted in MS. b had] Not in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 25

There could be as little doubt, and there was as 1661.
little opposition visible, in the claim of the church : church _
so that the king made choice of many grave divines,



to whom he assigned bishoprics in Ireland, and sent new bishops

appointed.

them thither, to be consecrated by the bishops who
remained alive there according to the laws of that
kingdom ; and conferred the other dignities and
church-preferments upon worthy men, who were all
authorized to enter upon those lands, which belonged
to their several churches. And in this general zeal
for the church, some new grants were made of lands
and impropriations, which were not enough delibe-
rated, and gave afterwards great interruption to the
settlement of the kingdom, and brought envy upon
the church and churchmen, when the restoration to
what was their own was generally well approved.

The pretences of the adventurers and soldiers were
very much involved and perplexed : yet they gave
the king little other trouble, than the general care
and solicitude, that by an unseasonable disturbance
of their possessions there, the soldiers who had been
disbanded and those of the standing army (who for
the most part had the same ill affections) might not
unite together, and seize upon some places of defence,
before his affairs in that kingdom should be put in
such an order as to oppose them. And next that ap-
prehension, his majesty had no mind that any of
those soldiers, either who had been disbanded, and
put into possession of lands for the arrears of their
pay, and upon which they now lived ; or of the other,
the standing army, many whereof were likewise in
possession of lands assigned to them ; I say, the king
was not without apprehension, that the resort of ei-
ther of these into England might find too many of



26 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. their old friends and associates, ready to concur
with them in any desperate measures c , and for con-
trolling of which he was not d enough provided even
in this kingdom. But for their private and particular
interest, the king cared not much how it was com-
pounded, nor considered the danger if it were not
compounded. For besides the factions, divisions, and
animosities, which were between themselves, and
very great ; they could have no cause of complaint
against the king, who would take nothing from them
to which they had the least pretence of law or right.
And for their other demands, he would leave them
to litigate between themselves ; it being evident to
all men, that there must be some judicatory erected
by act of parliament, that only could examine and
put an end to all those pretences : the perusal e and
examination of which act of parliament, when the
same should be prepared, his majesty resolved that
all parties should have, and that he would hear their
particular exceptions to it, before he would transmit
it into Ireland to be passed.

That which gave the king the only trouble and so-
licitude, was the miserable condition of the Irish na-
tion, that was so near an extirpation ; the thought
whereof his majesty's heart abhorred. Nor can it
be denied, that either from the indignation he had
against those, in whose favour the other poor people
were miserably destroyed, or from his own natural
compassion and tenderness, and the just regard of
the merit of many of them who had served him with
The king fidelity, he had a very strong and princely inclination

inclined to J \ J , .

faTour the to do the best he could, without doing apparent in-

pretensions

of the Irish e measures] Omitted in MS. e the perusal] and the per

catholics. . - . , . J . ,, ,

d not] Not m MS. usal.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 27

justice, to preserve them in a tolerable condition of 1661.
subjects. This made him give them, who were most
concerned and solicitous on their behalf, liberty to re-
sort to his presence ; and hear f all they could allege
for themselves, in private or in public. And this in-
dulgence proved to their disadvantage, and exalted
them so much, that when they were heard in public
at the board, they behaved themselves with less mo-
desty towards their adversaries, who stood upon the
advantage-ground, and with less reverence in the
presence of the king, than the truth of their con-
dition and any ordinary discretion would have re-
quired. And their disadvantage was the greater,
because they who spake publicly on their behalf, and
were very well qualified to speak, and left nothing
for the matter unsaid that was for their purpose,
were men, who from the beginning to the end of the
rebellion, had behaved themselves eminently ill to-
wards the king. And they of their adversaries who
spake against them, had great knowledge and expe-
rience of all that had passed on either side, and
knew how to press it home when it was seasonable.

They of the Irish, who were all united under the The pica of
name of the confederate catholics of Ireland, ma
their first approach wisely for compassion ; and
urged " their great and long sufferings ; the loss of
" their estates for five or six and twenty years ; the
" wasting and spending of the whole nation in bat-
" ties, and transportation of vast multitudes of men
" into the parts beyond the seas, whereof many had
" the honour to testify their fidelity to the king by
" real services, and many of them returned into Eng-

f and hear] and to hear



28 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " land with him, and were still in his service; the
" great numbers of men, women, and children, that
" had been massacred and executed in cold blood,
" after the king's government had been driven from
" thence ; the multitudes that had been destroyed
" by famine and the plague, those two heavy judg-
" ments having raged over the kingdom for two or
" three years ; and at last, as a persecution unheard
" of, the transplanting the small remainder of the na-
" tion into one corner of the province ofConnaught,
" where yet much of the lands was taken from them.
" which had been assigned with all those formalities
" of law, which were in use, and practised under that
" government. "

2. They demanded " the benefit of two treaties of
" peace, the one in the late king's time and con-
" firmed by him, the other confirmed by his majesty
" who was present ; by both which," they said, " they
** stood indemnified for all acts done by them in the
" rebellion ; and insisted upon their innocence since
" that time, and that they had paid so entire an
" obedience to his majesty's commands whilst he
" was beyond the seas, that they betook themselves
" to, and withdrew themselves from, the service of
" France or Spain, in such manner as his majesty
" signified his pleasure what they should do. " And
if they had ended here, they would have done wisely.
But whether it was the observation they made, that
what they had said made impression upon his ma-
jesty and many of the lords ; or whether it was their
evil genius that naturally transported them to ac-
tions of strange sottishness and indiscretion ; they
urged and enforced, with more liberty than became
them in that conjuncture, "the unworthiness and



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 29

" incapacity of those, who for so many years had 1661,
" possessed themselves of their estates, and sought
" now a confirmation of their rebellious title from
" his majesty. "

3. " That their rebellion had been more infamous
" and of a greater magnitude than that of the Irish,
" who had risen in arms to free themselves from
" the rigour and severity that was exercised upon
" them by some of the king's ministers, and for the
" liberty of their conscience and practice of their re-
" ligion, without having the least intention or thought
" of withdrawing themselves from his majesty's obe-
" dience, or declining his government : whereas the
" others had carried on an odious rebellion against
" the king's sacred person, whom they had horridly
" murdered in the sight of the sun, with all imagin-
" able circumstances of contempt and defiance, and
" as much as in them lay had rooted out monarchy
" itself, and overturned and destroyed the whole go-
" vernment of church and state : and therefore that
" whatever punishment the poor Irish had deserved
" for their former transgressions, which they had so
" long repented of, and departed from the rebellion
" when they had armies and strong towns in their
" hands, which they, together with themselves, had
" put again under his majesty's protection ; this part &
" of the English, who were possessed of their estates,
" had broken all their obligations to God and the
" king, and so could not merit to be gratified with
" their ruin and total destruction. That it was too
" evident and notorious to the world, that his ma-
" jesty's three kingdoms had been very faulty to

8 this part] whereas this part



30 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

" him, and withdrawn themselves from his govern-
" ment ; by which he had been compelled to live in
" exile so many years : and yet, that upon their re-
" turn to their duty and obedience, he had been gra-
" ciously pleased to grant a free and general pardon
" and act of indemnity in which many were com-
" prehended, who in truth had been the contrivers
" and fomenters of all the misery and desolation,
" which had involved the three nations for so many
" years. And therefore that they hoped, that when
" all his majesty's other subjects (as criminal at
" least as they were) were, by his majesty's cle-
" mency, restored to their own estates which they
" had forfeited, and were in full peace, mirth, and
"joy; the poor Irish alone should not be totally
" exempt from all his majesty's grace, and left in
" tears and mourning and lamentation, and be sa-
" crificed without redemption to the avarice and
" cruelty of those, who had not only spoiled and
" oppressed them, but had done all that was in their
" power, and with all the insolence imaginable, to
" destroy the king himself and his posterity, and
" who now returned to their obedience, and sub-
" mitted h to his government, when they were no
" longer able to oppose it. Nor did they yet re-
" turn to it with that alacrity and joy and resigna-
" tion as the Irish did, but insisted obstinately upon
" demands unreasonable, and which they hoped could
" not consist with his majesty's honour to grant :"
and so concluded with those pathetical applications
and appeals to the king, as men well versed in dis-
courses of that nature are accustomed to.

h submitted] had submitted



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 31

This discourse, carried on and urged with more 1661.
passion, vehemence, and indiscretion, than was suit-"
able to the condition they were in, and in which, by
the excesses of their rhetoric, they had let fall many
expressions very indecent and unwarrantable, and in
some of them confidently excused if not justified their
first entrance into rebellion, (the most barbarous cer-
tainly and inexcusable, that any Christians have been
engaged in in any age,) irreconciled many to them
who had compassion enough for them, and made it
impossible for the king to restrain their adversaries,
who were prepared to answer all they had said, from
using the same licence. They enlarged " upon all The answer

of the ad-
' venturers.



" the odious circumstances of the first year's rebel- ? ft



" lion, the murdering of above a hundred thousand
" persons in cold blood, and with all the barbarity
" imaginable ; which murders and barbarities had
" been always excepted from pardon. " And they
told them, "that if there were not some amongst
" themselves who then appeared before his majesty,
" they were sure there would be found many
" amongst those for whom they appeared, who
" would be found guilty of those odious crimes,
" which were excluded from any benefit by those
" treaties. " They took notice, " how confidently
" they had extolled their own innocence from the
" time that those two acts of pacification had passed,
" and their great affection for his majesty's service. "
And thereupon they declared, " that whatsoever le-
" gal title the adventurers had to the lands of which
" they were possessed, many of whom had constantly
" served the king ; yet they would be contented,
" that all those, who in truth had preserved their
" integrity towards his majesty from the time of



32 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " either if not of both the pacifications, and not
""" swerved afterwards from their allegiance, should
" partake of his royal bounty, in such a manner and
" to such a degree, as his majesty thought fit to
" exercise towards them. But," they said, " they
" would make it appear, that their pretences to that
" grace and favour were not founded upon any rea-
" sonable title ; that they had never consented to
" any one act of pacification, to which the promise
" of indemnity had been annexed, which they had
" not violated and broken within ten days after, and
" then returned to all the acts of disloyalty and re-
" bellion.

" That after the first act of pacification ratified
" by the last king, in very few days ', they treated
" the herald, his majesty's officer, who came to pro-
" claim that peace, with all manner of indignity,
" tearing his coat of arms (the king's arms) from
" his back ; and beat and wounded him so, that he
" was hardly rescued from the loss of his life. That
" about the same time they endeavoured to surprise
" and murder the lord lieutenant, and pursued him
" to Dublin, which they forthwith besieged with
" their army, under the command of that general
" who had signed the peace. They imprisoned their
" commissioners who were authorized by them, for
" consenting to those articles which themselves had
" confirmed, and so prosecuted the war with as much
*' asperity as ever ; and refused to give that aid and
" assistance they were obliged to, for the recovery
" and restoration of his late majesty ; the promise
" and expectation of which supply and assistance,

1 in very few days] in very few days after



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. S3

" was the sole ground and consideration of that 1661.
" treaty, and of the concessions therein made to
" them. That they thereupon more formally re-
" nounced their obedience to the king, and put
" themselves under the protection and disposal of
" Rinuccini, the pope's nuncio, whom they made
" their generalissimo of all their armies, their ad-
" miral at sea, and to preside in all their councils.
" After their divisions amongst themselves, and the
" burden of the tyranny they suffered under, had
" disposed them to petition his majesty that now is,
" who was then in France, to receive them into his
" protection, and to send the marquis of Ormond
'' over again into Ireland to command them, his
" majesty k was so far prevailed with, that l he sent
" the marquis of Ormond into Munster, with such
" a supply of arms and ammunition as he could get ;
" where the lord Inchiquin, lord president of that
" province, received him with the protestant army
" and joined with him : and shortly after, the con-
" federate Irish made that second treaty of pacifica-
" tion, of which they now demanded the benefit.
" But it was notoriously known, that they no sooner
" made that treaty than they brake it, in not bring-
" ing in those supplies of men and money, which
" they ought and were obliged to do ; the want n
" whereof exposed the lord lieutenant to many diffi-
" culties, and was in truth the cause of the misfor-
" tune before Dublin : which he had no sooner un-
" dergone, than they withdrew from taking any fur-
" tlier care of the kingdom, and raised scandals upon

k his majesty] and his ma- m But] But that
jesty n the want] and the want

1 that] as that and] Omitted in MS.

VOL. II. D



34 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

16(11. " and jealousies of the whole body of the English,

~ " who, being so provoked, could no longer venture

" themselves in any action or conjunction with the

" Irish, without more apprehension of them than of

" the common enemy.

" Instead of endeavouring to compose these jea-
" lousies and ill humours, they caused an assembly
" or convention of their clergy to meet without the
" lord lieutenant's authority, and put the govern-
" ment of all things into their hands : who, in a
" short time, improved the jealousies in the mind of
" the people towards the few protestants who yet
" remained in the army, and who had served the
" king with all imaginable courage and fidelity from
*' the very first hour of the rebellion, to that degree,
" that the marquis was even compelled to discharge
" his own troop of guards of horse, consisting of such
" officers and gentlemen as are mentioned before,
" and to trust himself and all the remaining towns
" and garrisons to the fidelity of the Irish ; they
" protesting with much solemnity, that upon such a
" confidence, the whole nation would be united as
" one man to his majesty's service, under his com-
" mand. But they had no sooner received satisfac-
" tion in that particular, (which was not in the mar-
" quis's power to refuse to give them,) but they
" raised several calumnies against his person, de-
" claimed against his religion, and inhibited the
" people, upon pain of excommunication, to submit
" to this and that order that was issued out by the
" marquis, without obeying whereof the army could
" not stay together ; and upon the matter forbade
" the people to pay any obedience to him. Instead
" of raising new forces according to their last pro-



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 35

" mise and engagement, those that were raised ran 1661,

" from their colours and dispersed themselves; they

" who were trusted with the keeping of towns and
" forts, either gave them up by treachery to Crom-
" well, or lost them through cowardice to him upon
" very feeble attacks : and their general, Owen
" O'Neile, made a formal contract and stipulation
" with the parliament. And in the end, when they
" had divested the lord lieutenant of all power to
" oppose the enemy, and given him great cause to
" believe that his person was in danger to be be-
" trayed, and delivered up to the enemy, they vouch-
" safed to petition him that he would depart out of
" the kingdom, (to the necessity whereof they had
" even already compelled him,) and that he would
" leave his majesty's authority in the hands of one
" of his catholic subjects, to whom they promised to
" submit with the most punctual obedience.

" Hereupon the marquis, when he found that he
" could not unite them in any one action worthy
" the duty of good subjects, or of prudent men, to-
" wards their own preservation ; and so, that his
" residence amongst them longer could in no degree
" contribute to his majesty's service or honour ; and
" that they would make it to be believed, that if
'* he would have committed the command into the
" hands of a Roman catholic, they would have been
" able to preserve those towns which still remained
" in their possession, which were Limerick and Gal-
" way, and some other places of importance enough,
" though of less than those cities ; and that they
" would likewise by degrees recover from the enemy
" what had been lost, which indeed was very pos-
" sible for them to have done, since they had great

D 2



36 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " bodies of men to perform any enterprise, and some
~~ " good officers to lead them, if they would have been
" obedient to any command : hereupon the marquis
" resolved to gratify them, and to place the com-
" mand in the hands of such a person, whose zeal
" for the catholic religion was unquestionable, and
" whose fidelity to the king was P unblemished. And
" so he made choice of the marquis of Clanrickard,
" a gentleman, though originally of English extrac-
" tion, whose family had for so many hundred years
" resided in that kingdom, that he was looked upon
" as being of the best family of the Irish ; and whose
" family had, in all former rebellions, as well as in
" this last, preserved its loyalty to the crown not
" only unspotted, but eminently conspicuous.

" The Roman catholics of all kinds pretended at
" least a wonderful satisfaction and joy in this elec-
" tion ; acknowledged it as a great obligation upon
" them and their posterity to the lord lieutenant, for
" making so worthy a choice ; and applied them-
" selves to the marquis of Clanrickard with all the
" protestations of duty and submission, to induce
" him to accept the charge and command over
" them ; who indeed knew them too well to be will-
" ing to trust them, or to have any thing to do with
" them. Yet upon the marquis of Ormond's earnest
" and solemn entreaty, as the last and only remedy
" to keep and retain some remainder of hope, from
" whence future hopes might grow ; whereas all
" other thoughts were desperate, and the kingdom
" would presently fall into the hands and possession
" of the English, who would extirpate the whole

P was] as



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 37

"nation: this importunity, and his great zeal for 1661.
" the service of the crown, and to support the go-""
" vernment there until his majesty should procure
" other supplies, which the marquis of Ormond pro-
" mised to solicit in France, or till his majesty should
" send better orders to preserve his authority in that
" kingdom, (the hope of which seemed the less des-
" perate, because they had notice at the same time
" of his majesty's march into England, with an army
" from Scotland,) prevailed with him so, that he was
" contented to receive such commissions from the
" lord lieutenant, as were necessary for the execu-
" tion of the present command. Upon which the
" lord lieutenant embarked himself, with some few
" friends and servants, upon a little rotten pink that
" was bound for France, and very ill accommodated
" for such a voyage ; being not to be persuaded to
" send to the commander in chief of the English for
" a pass, though he was assured that it would very
" readily have been granted : but it pleased- God
" that he arrived safely in France, a little before or
" about the time that the king transported himself
" thither, after his miraculous escape from Wor-
" cester.

" The marquis of Ormond was no sooner gone
" out of Ireland, but the lord marquis of Clanrick-
" ard, then lord deputy, found himself no better
" treated than the lord of Ormond had been. That
" part of the clergy, which had continually opposed
" the lord lieutenant for being a protestant, were
" now as little satisfied with the deputy's religion,
" and as violently contradicted all his commands
" and desires, and violated all their own promises,
" and quickly made it evident, that his affection

D 3



38 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " and loyalty to the king was that which they dis-
~~" liked, and a crime that could not be balanced by
" the undoubted sincerity of his religion. They en-
" tered into secret correspondence with the enemy,
" arid conspiracies between themselves : and though
" there were some persons of honour and quality
" with the deputy, who were very faithful to him
" and to the king ; yet there were so many of an-
" other allay, that all his counsels, resolutions,
" and designs, were discovered to the enemy soon
" enough to be prevented. And though some of the
" letters were intercepted, and the persons dis-
" covered who gave the intelligence, he had not
" power to bring them to justice ; but being com-
" monly friars and clergymen, the privilege of the
" church was insisted upon, and so they were res-
" cued from the secular prosecution till their escape
" was contrived. That perfidious and treacherous
" party had so great an interest in all the towns,.
" forts, and garrisons, which yet pretended to be
" subject to the deputy, that all his orders were
" still contradicted or neglected : and the enemy no
" sooner appeared before any place, but some fac-
" tion in the town caused it to be given up and ren-
" dered.

" Nor could this fatal sottishness be reformed,
" even by the severity and rigour which the Eng-
" lish exercised upon them, who, by the wonderful
" judgment of God Almighty, always put those men
" to death, who put themselves and those towns
" into their hands ; finding still that they had some
" barbarous part in the foul murders, which had
" been committed in the beginning of the rebellion,
" and who had been, by all the acts of grace granted



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 39

" by the several powers, still reserved for justice. 1661,
" And of this kind there would be so many in-~"~
" stances in and about Limerick and Gal way, that
" they deserve to be collected and mentioned in a
" discourse by itself, to observe and magnify the
" wonderful providence of God Almighty in bring-
" ing heinous crimes to light and punishment in this
" world, by means unapprehended by the guilty ;
" insomuch as it can hardly be believed, how many
" of the clergy and the laity, who had a signal hand
" in the contriving and fomenting the first rebellion,
" and in the perpetration of those horrible mur-
"ders; and who had obstructed all overtures to-
" ward peace, and principally caused any peace
"- that was made to be presently broken ; who had
" with most passion adhered to the nuncio, and en-
" deavoured most maliciously to exclude the king
" and his posterity from the dominion of Ireland ;
" I say, it can hardly be believed, how many of
" these most notorious transgressors did by some act
" of treachery endeavour to merit from the English
"rebels, and so put themselves into their hands, and
" were by them publicly and reproachfully executed
" and put to death.

" This being the sad condition the deputy was in,
" and the Irish having, without his leave and against
" his express command, taken upon them to send
" riiessengers into Flanders, to desire the duke of
" Lorrain to take them into his protection, and of-
" fered to deliver several important places and sea-
" towns into his possession, and to become his sub-
jects, (upon which the duke sent over an ambas-
" sador, and a good sum of money for their present
" relief,) the deputy was in a short time reduced to

D 4



40 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. " those straits, that he durst not remain in any
~~" town, nor even in his own house three days to-
" gether, but was forced for his safety to shift from
" place to place, and sometimes to lodge in the
*' woods and fields in cold and wet nights ; by which
" he contracted those infirmities and diseases, which
" shortly after brought him to his grave. And in
" the end, he was compelled to accept a pass from
" the English, who had a reverence for his person
" and his unspotted reputation, to transport himself
" into England, where his wife and family were ;
" and where he died before he could procure means
" to carry himself to the king, which he always in-
" tended to do. "

When the commissioners had enlarged with some
commotion in this narration and discourse, they
again provoked the Irish commissioners to nominate
" one person amongst themselves, or of those for
" whom they appeared, who they believed could in
" justice demand his majesty's favour ; and if they
" did not make it evidently appear, that he had for-
" feited all his title to pardon after the treaties, and
" that he had been again as faulty to the king as
" before, they were very willing he should be re-
" stored to his estate. " And then applying them-
selves to his majesty with great duty and submis-
sion, they concluded, " that if any persons had,, by
" their subsequent loyalty ^ or service, or by their
" attendance upon his majesty beyond the seas, ren-
" dered themselves grateful to him, and worthy of
" his royal favour, they were very willing that his
" majesty should restore all or any of them to their

i loyalty] Omitted in MS.



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 41

" honours or estates, in such manner as his majesty 1661.
" thought fit, and against all impediments whatso-"""
" ever. " And upon this frank offer of theirs, which Many ca-
his majesty took very well, several acts of parlia- had served



ment were presently passed, for the indemnity
the restoring many persons of honour and interest * t t
to their estates ; who could either in justice require
it, as having been faithful always to the king, and
suffered with him or for him ; or who had so far
manifested their affection and duty for his majesty,
that he thought fit, in that consideration, to wipe
out the memory of whatsoever had been formerly
done amiss. And by this means, many were put
into a full possession of their estates, to which they
could make any good pretence at the time when the
rebellion began.

This consideration and debate upon the settle-
ment of this unhappy kingdom took up many days,
the king being always present, in which there arose
every day new difficulties. And it appeared plainly
enough, that the guilt was so general, that if the
letter of the act of parliament of the seventeenth
year of the late king were strictly pursued, as pos-
sibly it might have been, if the reduction had fallen
out likewise during the whole reign of that king,
even an utter extirpation of the nation would have
followed.

There were three particulars, which, upon the Three, par-

_ . . . ,, , . . ticulars in

first mention and view or them, seemed in most this affair



men's eyes worthy of his majesty's extraordinary ^essthe'*"
compassion and interposition; and yet upon a kmg-
stricter examination were found as remediless as
any of the rest. One was; " the condition of that i. The

. i i i ii tranplan-

" miserable people, which was likewise very nu- tation of



42 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1661. " merous, that was transplanted into Connaught;



the Irish " who had been removed from their own possessions

nlught. " in other provinces, with such circumstances of ty-

" ranny and cruelty, that their own consents ob-

" tained afterwards with that force could not rea-

" sonably be thought any confirmation of their un-

" just title, who were in possession of their lands. "

Th s e adven- TO this it was answered, '* that though it was

turers' de- f

fence of " acted in an irregular manner, and without lawful

this mea- . . . . . . . .

sure. " authority, it being in a time ot usurpation ; yet
" that the act itself was very prudent and necessary,
" and an act of mercy, without which an utter ex-
" tirpation . of the nation must have followed, if the
" kingdom were to be preserved in peace. That it
" cannot be denied to be an act of mercy, since
" there was not one man transplanted, who had
" not by the law forfeited all the estate he had ;
" and his life might have been as legally taken from
" him : so that both his life, and whatever estate he
" had granted to him in Connaught, was from the
" pure bounty of the state, which might and did by
" the act of parliament seize upon the same. That,
" beside the unsteady humour of that people, and
" their natural inclination to rebel, it was notorious,
" that whilst they were dispersed over the kingdom,
" though all their forces had been so totally sub-
" dued, that there was not throughout the whole
" " kingdom a visible number of twenty men together,
" who pretended to be in arms ; yet there were
" daily such disorders committed by thefts and rob-
" beries and murders, that they could not be said to
" be in peace. Nor could the English, man, woman,
" or child, go one mile from their habitations upon
" their necessary employment, but they were found



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 43

" murdered and stripped by the Irish, who lay in 1G61,
" wait for those purposes ; so that the people were ~~
" very hardly restrained from committing a inas-
'* sacre upon them wherever they were met : so that
" there appeared no other way to prevent an utter
" extirpation of them, but to confine and restrain
" them within such limits and bounds, that might
" keep them from doing mischief, and thereby make
" them safe. That thereupon this expedient was laid
" hold of. And whereas they had nothing to en-
" able them to live upon in the places where they
" were dispersed, they had now by this transplan-
" tation into Connaught lands given them, sufficient
" with their industry to live well upon ; of which
" there was good evidence, by their having lived
" well there since that time, and many of them
" much better than they had ever done before. And
" the state, which had done this grace for them, had
" great reason, when it gave them good titles to. the
" land assigned to them, which they might plead in
" any court of justice, to require from them releases
" of what they had forfeited ; which, though to the
" public of no use or validity, were of benefit and
" behooveful to many particular persons, for the
" quieting their possessions against frivolous suits
" and claims which 'might start up. That this trans-
" plantation had been acted, finished, and submitted
" to by all parties, who had enjoyed the benefit
" thereof, quietly and without disturbance, many
" years before the king's return : and the soldiers
" and adventurers had been likewise so many years
" in the possession of their lots, in pursuance of the
" act of parliament, and had laid out so much inoney
" in building and planting, that the consequence of



44 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. such an alteration as was now proposed would be
" the highest confusion imaginable. "

And it cannot be denied, that if the king could
have thought it safe and seasonable to have re-
viewed all that had been done, and taken those ad-
vantages upon former miscarriages and misapplica-
tions, as according to the strictness of that very law
he might have done ; the whole foundation, upon
which all the hopes rested of preserving that king-
dom within the obedience to the crown of England,
must have been shaken and even dissolved; with
no small influence and impression upon the peace
and quiet of England itself. For the memory of
the beginning of the rebellion in Ireland (feow many
other rebellions soever had followed as bad, or worse
in respect of the consequences that attended them)
was as fresh and as odious to the whole people of
England, as it had been the first year. And though
no man durst avow so unchristian a wish, as an ex-
tirpation of them, (which they would have been very
well contented with;) yet no man dissembled his
opinion, that it was the only security the English
could have in that kingdom, that the Irish should
be kept so low, that they should have no power to
hurt them,
s. The case Another particular, that seemed more against the

of entails

and settle- foundation of justice, was ; " that the soldiers and
law" S " adventurers expected and promised themselves,
" that in this new settlement that was under de-
" bate, all entails and settlements at law should be
" destroyed, whether upon consideration of mar-
" riage, or any other contracts which had been
" made before the rebellion. Nor had there been
" in the whole former proceedings in the time of



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 45

" the usurpation, any consideration taken of mort- 1661.
" g a g es r debts due by statute or recognizance, or
" upon any other security ; so that all such debts
" must be either lost to the proprietors, or remain
" still with the interest upon the land, whoever had
" enjoyed the benefit or profits thereof. " All which
seemed to his majesty very unreasonable and un-
just ; and that such estates should remain forfeited
by the treason of the father, who had been only te-
nant for life, against all descents and legal titles of
innocent children ; and of which, in all legal at-
tainders, the crown never had or could receive any
benefit.

Yet, how unreasonable soever these pretences
seemed to be, it was no easy matter to give rules
and directions for the remedy of the mischief, with-
out introducing another mischief equally unjust and
unreasonable. For the commissioners declared, " that The adven-
" if such titles, as are mentioned, were preserved swer.
" and allowed to be good, there would not in that
" universal guilt, which upon the matter compre-
" hended and covered the whole Irish nation, be
" one estate forfeited by treason, but such convey-
" ances and settlements would be produced to se-
" cure and defend the same : and though they
** would be forged, there would not be witnesses
" wanting to prove and justify whatsoever the evi-
" dence could be applied to. And if those trials
" were to be by the known rules and customs of the
" law in cases of the like nature, there was too much
" reason to suspect and fear that there would be
" little justice done : since a jury of Irish would in-
" fallibly find against the English, let the evidence
" be what it could be ; and there was too much rea-



46 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF
1661. " son to apprehend that the English, whose animo-



" sity was not less, would be as unjust in bringing
" in their verdict against the Irish, right or wrong. "
And there was experience afterwards, in the prose-
cution of this affair, of such forgeries and perjuries,
as have not been heard of amongst Christians ; and
in which, to our shame, the English were not be-
hindhand with the Irish. The king however thought
it not reasonable or just for him, upon what proba-
ble suggestions soever, to countenance such a bare-
faced violation of the law, by any declaration of his ;
but commanded his council at law to make such
alterations in the expressions as might be fit for him
to consent to.

s. The ex- The third particular, and which much affected
sero/the the king, was ; " that in this universal joy for his



( (



restoration without blood, and with the indemnity
" of so many hundred thousands who had deserved
" to suffer the utmost punishments, the poor Irish,
" after so long sufferings in the greatest extremity
" of misery, should be the only persons who should
" find no benefit or ease by his majesty's restoration,
" but remain robbed and spoiled of all they had. ,
" and be as it were again sacrificed to the avarice
" and cruelty of them, who had not deserved better
" of his majesty than the other poor people had
" done. "

To which there can be no other answer made,

which is very sufficient in point of justice, but that,

Answer to as their rebellion and other crimes had been long

this plea.

" before his majesty's time, so full vengeance had
" been executed upon them ; and they had paid the
" penalties of their crimes and transgressions before
" his majesty's return ; so that he could not restore



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 47

" that which they called their own, without taking 1661,
" it from them, who were become the just owners"
" by an act of parliament ; which his majesty could
" not violate without injustice, and breach of the
" faith he had given. "

And that which was their greatest misery and
reproach, and which distinguished them from the
subjects of the other, two kingdoms, who were other-
wise bad enough, was ; that both the other nations
had made many noble attempts for redeeming their
liberty, and for the restoration of his majesty, (for
Scotland itself had done much towards it ;) and his
present restoration was, with God's blessing, and
only with his blessing, by the sole effects of the cou-
rage and affection of his own subjects : so that Eng-
land and Scotland had in a great degree redeemed,
and even undone what had been before done amiss
by them ; and his majesty had improved and se-
cured those affections to him by those promises and
concessions, which he was in justice obliged to per-
form. But the miserable Irish alone had no part in
contributing to his majesty's happiness ; nor had
God suffered them to be the least instruments in
bringing his good pleasure to pass, or to give any
testimony of their repentance for the wickedness
they had wrought, or of their resolution to be better
subjects for the future : so that they seemed as a
people left out by Providence, and exempted from ,
any benefit from that blessed conjuncture in his ma-
jesty's restitution.

And this disadvantage was improved towards
them, by their frequent manifestation of an inve-
terate animosity against the English nation and
English government ; which again was returned to



48 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. them in an irreconcileable jealousy of all the Eng-
"""lish towards them. And to this their present be-
haviour and imprudence contributed very much : for
it appeared evidently, that they expected the same
concessions (which the necessity of that time had
made fit to be granted to them) in respect of their
religion should be now likewise' confirmed. And
this temper made it very necessary for the king to
be very wary in dispensing extraordinary favours
(which his natural merciful inclination prompted
him to) to the Irish ; and to prefer the general in-
terest of his three kingdoms, before the particular
interest of a company of unhappy men, who had
foolishly forfeited their own ; though he pitied them,
and hoped in the conclusion to be able, without ex-
posing the public peace to manifest hazard, in some
degree to improve their condition.

Upon the whole matter, the king found, that if
he deferred to settle the government of Ireland till
a perfect settlement of all particular interests could
be made, it would be very long. He saw it could
not be done at once ; and that there must be some
examinations taken there, and some matters more
clearly stated and adjusted, before his majesty could
make his determination upon those particulars, which
purely depended upon his own judgment ; and that
some difficulties would be removed or lessened by
The first time : and so he passed that which is called the first
tinmen? 1 ac ^ f settlement ; and was persuaded to commit the
passed. execution thereof to a great number of commission-
ers, recommended to his majesty by those who were
most conversant in the affairs of Ireland; none or
very few of which were known to his majesty, or to
any of those who had been so many years from their



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 49

country, in their constant attendance upon his ma- 1661.
jesty's person beyond the seas.

And for the better countenance of this commis-
sion, and likewise to restrain the commissioners from
any excess, if their very large jurisdiction should
prove a temptation to them, the king thought fit to

commit the sword to three justices, which he had Three lords
_. i-ii-ni t justices up-

resolved when the sending the lord Roberts was de- pointed.

clined. Those three were, sir Morrice Eustace,
whom he newly made lord chancellor of Ireland,
the lord Broghill, whom he now made earl of Or-
rery, and sir Charles Coote, whom he likewise made
earl of Montrath. The first had been his sergeant
nt law long in that kingdom, and had been eminent
in the profession of the law, and the more esteemed
for being always a protestant, though an Irishman,
and of approved fidelity to the king during this
whole rebellion. But he was now old, and made so
little show of any parts extraordinary, that, but for
the testimony that was given of him, it might have
been doubted whether he ever had any. The other
two had been both eminently against the king, but
upon this turn, when all other powers were down,
eminently for him ; the one, very able and gene-
rous; the other, proud, dull, and very avaricious.
But the king had not then power to choose any,
against whom some as material objections might not
be made, and who had been able to do as much
good. With them, there were too many others
upon whom honours were conferred ; upon some,
that they might do no harm, who were thereby
enabled to do the more ; and upon others, that they
might not murmur, who murmured the more for
having nothing given them but honour : and so they

VOL. II. E



50 CONTINUATION OF THE LIFE OF

1661. were all despatched for Ireland ; by which the king
"had some ease, his service little advancement.

After a year was spent in the execution of this
commission, (for I shall, without discontinuing the
relation, say all that I intend upon this subject of
Ireland,) there was very little done towards the set-
tling the kingdom, or towards preparing any thing
partiality that might settle it ; but on the contrary, the

of the com- , . 1*1 i i

breaches were made wider, and so much passion



and injustice shewed, that complaints were brought
act - to his majesty from all parts of the kingdom, and

from all persons in authority there. The number
of the commissioners was so great, and their in-
terests so different, that they made no despatch.
Very many of them were in possession of those
lands, which others sued for before them ; and they
themselves bought broken titles and pretences of
other men, for inconsiderable sums of money, which
they supported and made good by their own author-
ity. Such of the commissioners, who had their own
particular interest and concernment depending, at-
tended the service very diligently : the few who were
more equal and just, because they had no interest of
their own at stake, were weary of their attendance
and expense, (there being no allowance for their
pains;) and, offended at the partiality and injustice
which they saw practised, withdrew themselves, and
would be no longer present at those transactions
which they could not regulate or reform.

All interests were equally offended and incensed ;
and the soldiers and adventurers complained no less
of the coiTuption and injustice than the Irish did :
so that the lords justices and council thought it ne-
cessary to transmit another bill to his majesty, which,



EDWARD EARL OF CLARENDON. 51

as I remember, they called an explanatory bill of the iGGi.
former ; and in that they provided, " that no person Second act
" who lived in Ireland, or had any pretence to an of se " le *

inent trans-

" estate there, should be employed as a commissioner- mitted to

f i , . 'the king.

" but that his majesty should be desired to send over
" a competent number of well qualified persons out
" of England to attend that service, upon whom a
** fit salary should be settled by the bill ; and such
" rules set down as might direct and govern the
" manner of their proceeding; and that an oath
" might be prescribed by the bill, which the commis-
" sioners should take, for the impartial administration
" of justice, and for the prosecution and execution of
" this bill," which was transmitted as an act by the
king. His majesty made choice of seven gentlemen New com-

_ . .